Electrolytes – The Key to my Health?

As an athlete, I am aware (as most are) that electrolytes are imperative to staying hydrated. I take this very seriously. I often consider myself one of the best hydrated people I know. I drink a lot of water every day and use electrolyte drinks on heavy training days (a long workout over 1 hour or two workouts in one day). As a side note, did you know that Gatorade has the more carbs and electrolytes than the other sports drinks? It does – read the labels!

Because I am a believer in holistic medicine and healing (ie. the whole body is connected and no symptoms are independent or unaffected by other symptoms), I made an appointment to see a well-renowned homeopath in Saskatoon named Dr. Hoe Mark. I went to him quite a few years ago for a problem that had to do with diarrhea and hemorrhoids*. He made it all better in one day (after several painful months and lots of money on other medications that did not work) and I have referred many people to him since then. So today my partner-in-crime and I went to see him for our ailments. My symptoms are based in the fact that I am so so tired all the time, despite my huge amounts of sleep (not counting my recent bout with insomnia, which lasted 3 long, sleepless nights). I was wondering if my tiredness had to do with the medication I’m on for bipolar disorder, but I don’t think he thought so (he didn’t discredit it, but he didn’t mention it after I mentioned it). When I described the heaviness I have in the morning, my eyelids not opening and my body feeling heavy, he asked me if I have ever had mono in my life. I said that I had not. Basically, no matter how much sleep I get I feel tired when I wake up. Once I’m up, I’m usually fine, but there are days when I won’t get up.

Then he asked me if I have ever had pneumonia, which I had when I was 10. I remember it clearly because it was the year our beloved Saskatchewan Roughriders won the Grey Cup in 1989 and I watched it with my sister in the hospital. He then got me to put my saliva on a pH testing strip, which I have done before and knew that I would have alkaline saliva. Sure enough. He kept saying, “You are very alkaline. Very rare.” I told him that I eat a plant-based diet, but he kept saying, “You are alkaline. Very rare.” At a vegan potluck I hosted a while ago, I did the same experiment with the people there and two out of 5 of us were alkaline. It didn’t seem rare to me, but now I want to test all of my friends to see. Beware to all the people I know: I will be asking you to put your saliva on a weird little strip of paper and then checking to see if you are alkaline!

After he checked my saliva, he asked to look at my hands. He poked at them a little bit and started to put drops of homeopathic remedy in water, which I drank. He then started to explain what his theory was. He said that I have never completely recovered from the pneumonia and that my cells (not my blood) are low in electrolytes. I protested that I drink water and electrolyte drinks, but he said it’s not my blood that is low in potassium. My blood is taking potassium from my cells in my muscles and it is making them contract and shrink.

I have to admit that I’m not 100% sure that I’m explaining this correctly. All you medicine people might be able to tell me if this is BS or legit. However, it does resonate with me because I’ve often wondered if my electrolytes are imbalanced or something. It’s not so much that I’ve noticed anything in particular, but just a feeling of something lacking in my body. I’m cautious to tell people this because people would just say that I need to eat some meat or something equally lame, and totally not going to happen. One of the supplements that people try to “waver” me from my veganism is fish oil.

BEGIN RANT: In my experience, naturopaths are the worst for questioning my veganism. I don’t go to a naturopath in Saskatoon anymore because I think they are way too pricey, have not helped me with my ailments, and they don’t support veganism. I was outright told once that veganism is not healthy and I should not be vegan. I didn’t return to that naturopath. I went to another one who asked me repeatedly if I would consider taking fish oil. She basically told me that I would not be healthy if I didn’t take fish oil supplements. I stopped going to that one too. I’m sure there are naturopaths who are vegan-friendly, but I have not found one in Saskatoon yet. Also, they cost too much money! The ones here don’t even offer a sliding scale for people who can’t afford them. The only people that can afford to go to a naturopath are very lucky. END RANT

So I have my potassium salt tablets and my potassium homeopathic remedy and I’m taking them three times a day. I will report back to this blog on how it turns out. I’ve taken a before picture of my hand. In a few weeks I’ll take an after picture. Do you think there will be a difference?

* If hemmrhoids scared you, don’t look at the photo of my foot with the popped blood blister! I’m just the kind of girl that likes to be descriptive about bodily functions! Other examples: Peeing on the run, Farmer snotting

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What is VT?

This website is one that I, Crystal Clarke, started in 2007 with big ideas. It is morphing slowly into a resourceful website for vegans and athletes alike. I put my personal touch on this website in the recipes and the training blog, as I'm a writer, a scientist, a triathlete & a vegan. So what is a vegan triathlete? Well...

vegan. n. vee-gahn. - a person who refrains from using any animal product whatever for food, clothing, or any other purpose.triathlete. n. someone who participates in races consisting of swimming, biking, and running in that order; there are several varying distances with some standard distances:
Sprint: 750m swim, 20km bike, 5km run
Olympic: 1.5km swim, 40km bike, 10km run
Half Ironman: 2km swim, 90km bike, 21.1km run
Ironman: 3.8km swim, 180km bike, 42.2km run

Who am I?

My name is Crystal Clarke. I'm a vegan triathlete. I've been vegan since 2002 and a triathlete since 2003. Since then I have completed 1 Ironman, 4 half IMs, several Olympic triathlons, and many other triathlons, duathlons, running races, and biking races. My goal for each race is to finish. I'm pretty slow, but can be a middle-of-the-pack person if I'm not injured and train consistently.

In addition to being a vegan triathlete, I'm a writer, I'm an Agrologist, I'm a soil scientist, I'm a knitter, I'm an anti-consumer, I'm an environmentalist, I'm a budding Buddhist, I'm a yogi, I'm a student of life, and I'm bipolar. I'm a lot of things! I don't fit into any one category - that's what I think sets me apart from other athlete blogs.